Page 27 of Tracking Wolfe

Jake shook his head. “You don’t need to do that.”

I shrugged. “I don’t mind. I’m staying at the campground, but my van’s parked next door right now. Let me grab it so you can practice before your set.”

I gave Jake my breakfast order and went out to the van, grabbing the soft-sided case before returning to the restaurant.

“Maybe I can come watch tonight,” I said with a smile. “What kind of music do you play?”

Shay had already moved next to my spot at the bar and immediately began filling my ears with her love of all things Lyra Vale. Thankfully, she was also a big Looper fan, and she also knew way more classics than I would have guessed for someone her age.

“How old are you?” I asked when I noticed her wearing a letter jacket from a high school.

“Eighteen. I’m finishing my senior year online right now, and then I’m going to Nashville. I told Jake I’m going to go get discovered and make a ton of money so he can finally buy a ski pass and snowboard.”

I glanced up at Jake as he set my plate of eggs and toast down. He shook his head. “Not sure where I’d get the time to use either one, but I appreciate the thought, Shady-Lady.”

“I take it this is your place?” I asked stupidly.

His eyes crinkled with a laugh. “Not originally. Our parents had a few bucks and a moment of insanity a while back.”

“More than a moment,” Shay added, distracted now with my guitar in her lap. “They took off last year and left us with this shithole.”

“My sister hasn’t been through customer service training,” he said, shooting me a wink that made my stomach flip a little. “Shay, maybe don’t tell the paying customers they’re eating at a shithole?”

“Sorry, I don’t mean it like that.” She strummed a C major without looking up at me. “The debt is shitty. Howbout that?”

Jake nodded and blew out a breath. “The debt is shitty. But summer season’s almost here, and that’ll help.”

“And so will my music career!”

He smiled at her. “And so will your music career. I’ll be your manager, and we can finally sell this place and move somewhere else.”

My heart went out to them. It was an easy decision to arrange for Jataya, my assistant at the foundation, to send Shay a new guitar. Instruments for kids in need was one of our core initiatives.

“What time are you playing tonight?” I asked politely between bites of food. Since I was the only customer in the place, both of them had stuck around to ask me a few questions about where I was from and what had brought me to Hush.

I told them I was from San Francisco and I’d taken some time off to get some perspective on my life. “I turned thirty earlier this year,” I admitted with a shrug. “Kind of wonder what the heck I’m doing, you know?”

Jake let out an easy laugh. “Join the club. We can’t afford T-shirts, but the hugs are free.”

I shot him a shy smile, unsure if he was flirting or just being friendly. There’d been a few men on this trip who’d flirted or outright propositioned me, but this was the first one I’d met who actually tempted me to consider a date over a hookup.

Oxygen filled my lungs as I took a deep breath of relief. Maybe this was a sign I was getting over Trace.

That I was finally ready to move on.

That night, when I returned to Jake’s Place, freshly showered and wearing clean clothes, my camping friends joined me. Brennan and Val had come in earlier for a bite to eat while I’d been showing Shay a few things on the guitar, and we’d all made plans to support her during her performance.

I shouldn’t have worried. There were other people from the campground, several groups of locals, and a few people on motorcycles just passing through. The small crowd made me happy I’d stuck around earlier in the day and showed Shay a few things on the guitar. She’d practiced several of her favorites, including “Dance With Me,” which was one of the songs Papa had written for Dad when they got together years ago. Without mentioning my connection to the music, I’d shown her a picking style to use before the bridge that had made her eyes light up with excitement.

Tonight, she looked great, dressed in a silvery-spangled tank top and well-worn jeans with her long hair curling down her shoulders. It was clear many of the locals knew her because older couples shouted out good luck with affectionate nicknames. It reminded me of how supportive the rest of the Marians would be if I ever got up onstage like this. Not that I had any plans to do that.

“She’s a cutie,” Brennan said, leaning in to speak close so I could hear over the sound of the crowd and Shay’s warm-up. “Is that your guitar? I didn’t notice earlier.”

I nodded. “Hers broke, so I loaned her mine.”

He turned to meet my eye. He was a total sweetheart and the kind of guy I might have been into if he hadn’t had an obvious crush on someone else. Brennan and I had spent more than one evening in the past few weeks drinking beer and commiserating about unrequited love.

“That was nice of you, babe,” he said, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “You’re very generous.”